Morgan Stanley Intern Is Voice Of His Generation
Heard about Matthew Robson, the 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern over in the UK who wrote an analysis of his peers' interaction with media? Short version: They don't Twitter, they won't pay for music, they only use their mobile phones to text and call, they find advertising annoying, etc. (The full memo is here.) Anyway, young Matthew has kicked up quite a fuss among old people who think one young person can accurately convey the attitudes and media usage of his entire generation, particularly since, as a 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern, he is exactly like most kids his age. Or not.
OMG, teenagers aren't enthralled with advertising? The future is bleak.
Suggested for immediate viewing: "Being There" where as we all know, Chauncey Gardner quickly rises to national public prominence … http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/4708/Being-There/overview
I find myself equally repulsed by the rebuttals (?) from the other teenagers (?) in the Guardian. I don't think I'm that far removed from teen-dom. I'm 21.
The second child, Eloise, called Limewire "confusing" and claimed that teenagers read newspapers. I would like to see if these (probably handwritten) editorials were postmarked from a retirement community in Boca Raton.
How can this be? All the teens that they've paid to be in focus groups responded positively!?!
This kid is hardly even the voice of teenagers named Matthew Robson.
There are so many problems with taking a small sample set of teenagers (Matthew and his friends) and trying to generalize it across a broad spectrum of teenagers. Having worked on these issues when I was still employed, I would also say that its hard to even generalize behavior of teenagers in one country to teenagers in other countries. e.g. Teenagers in Asia and parts of the Baltic region spend lots of money on cell phone credits as compared to teenagers in the US and other parts of the world. Online gaming is huge in other parts of the world that are not euro-centric. Further, spend on media consumption is usually skewed towards people who have some type of disposable income (teenagers usually only entering that demo once they are 17+) and/or girls. Tween girls will spend money on just about anything, tween boys tend to buy fewer but more expensive purchases (video games, natch). So all this is to say that Richie Rich who got himself an internship at MS at the age of 15 b/c he knows ppl is likely not the best person to consult when trying to craft your companies ongoing media strategic plan. Also? Probably not a winning strategy to try and win over the hearts and minds of a demo that by definition have empty wallets.
Don't hire an Etch-A-Sketch to do a Lite-Brite's job.
The problem is we already listen to children too much as it is.
Who cares what teens like? Shouldn't they just be put in chains and forced to do manual labor until they're eighteen?
I have absolutely no idea why people are so hyped up about this. Last year I produced a 150 page study on the habits of teenagers in this society. I have also done reports on migration, the value of money, China's emergence as a world super power, and what under-18s feel about the crime on our streets- all backed up with sources and quotes and references.
Do these investment bankers really feel so desolate about Britain's youth that they get excited about this report (which, as many people before have also said, does not really correlate with many teens at all)?
Yes, there are still children who read books on investment banking and the financial times. Yes, they have read Warren Buffett's biography and Intelligent Investing by Ben Graham. Yes, there are 8 year olds who make great returns on their stocks. Yes, super-charged, financially savvy, and diamond bright children still exist, and, in my circle of 400 friends on facebook, exist in large quantities. And yes, I AM YOUNGER THAN THIS BOY. I AM A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL.
Trust me, that boy is no wonderkid. I could have done exactly the same thing, better. I have half a mind to charge up to Morgan Stanley today and see how those guys react to me. (I am planning on doing work-experience there next year anyway, they'll see me even if they don't want to.)
WAKE UP, THE WORLD. CLEVER KIDS DO EXIST.